Scarlet Love
by NightChild01
Summary: Deathfic! YAOI! Finished! One stormy night, Duo shows up at someones' door badly beaten and bloodied. That someone has to figure out what had happened to the once, ever cheerful Duo Maxwell.
1. Battered Night

Scarlet Love

Chapter One:

Battered Night

By: NightChild

***

            It was a cold, wet night; rain was falling hard, beating on the roof of the small house that was hidden from the rest of the world. A young man sat on a wooden chair by the small fireplace with his eyes closed, paying no notice to the twisting yellow and orange flames. Someone could watch him for hours and not see him move, but to breathe, and even then, it was even, slow and hardly detectible.

            There was a small, feeble knock at the door, yet it resounded in the house as if it were a gunshot. The young man's eyes shot open to reveal cobalt blue eyes. He stood up lightning fast but did so quietly, as he did everything. Reaching for the gun that was always tucked in the back of his jeans, he walked silently to the door. He never got visitors; it could be an enemy…though it was highly unlikely since the wars had ended nearly three years beforehand. He paused at the door and listened.

            Nothing.

            Steeling himself for anything, he wrenched the door open. But what fell into his arms he wasn't ready for… A badly battered and bloodied young man with a long, brown braid fell into the other young man's arms, startling him. "D-Duo?" The bleeding and bruised one, Duo, didn't respond. "Duo." Still nothing. The cobalt-eyed one tried again, a slight edge of panic seeping into his voice, "Duo!" That did get a response.

            Duo moaned slightly, coming back into consciousness. "H…H-eero…?" he whispered out painfully.

            The cobalt-eyed one, Heero, nodded and he felt something stir within him that he hadn't felt for a long time. He quickly shrugged it off. "Yeah, it's me. What happened?" he asked, trying to keep his voice to a monotone.

            Duo stilled, and his eyes dulled. Staring up with his blank violet eyes, he kept still and said nothing, which was unusual for him. This worried Heero…a lot more than he'd like. Gently shaking Duo's shoulders, he repeated, "What happened?"

            No response.

            Panicking now, but not showing it, Heero shook Duo harder. "DUO! Tell me what happened!" Duo's eyes flickered to Heero's, but he still didn't say anything. Sighing, Heero picked Duo up and carried him to the only bedroom in his house. There was no point in stressing Duo any more than he was already stressed. _'Something really bad must have happened for him to be this quiet.'_ He thought as he laid the unresponsive and limp form of Duo out on his bed.

Once finished settling Duo into the bed, Heero grabbed two blankets and a pillow. He spread one blanket out on the chilled, hardwood floor, unfolded the other one, laid it on top of the one that he had spread out, then put his pillow at the top of the small blanket pile, and then folded back the blanket that was on top and crawled between the two blankets. With a heavy sigh, he settled in for a long, sleepless night filled with questions about what had happened to the once happy and ever cheerful Duo Maxwell.

            ***

            Duo awoke to the smell of cooking eggs and…coffee? He tried to sit up to get out of the bed and go investigate, but his body decided then was a good time to explode with pain. He fell back into the soft bed and pillows with an audible hiss. He closed his eyes to try to block out the pain, but it only doubled in magnitude. He felt like his body was trying to tear apart in several different directions at once, like white-hot pokers were being pressed to every inch of his skin, like small, sharp needles--"No! STOP!" he screamed before he even thought about it. He didn't want to think about that. He _couldn't_ think about what had happened….

            Duo was saved from his thoughts by the sound of feet rushing to the closed door. He heard the sound of door being flung open and he just barely managed to turn his head enough to see a panicked and rumpled looking Heero standing in the doorway, scanning the room for intruders. _'Ah, same ol' Heero…'_ Duo thought weakly as he watched Heero walk over to the bed and kneel down next to it.

            Heero looked at Duo in all seriousness and leaned in close to inspect a particularly nasty cut in his chin. "What's wrong, Duo?" he asked, his voice softer than he'd like it to be. But, his "Perfect Solider" façade never held well when it came to Duo. He felt that feeling stir in him again, but as the night before, he shoved it away.

            Duo looked into Heero's eyes and thought he saw a flicker of something that he'd never seen before in his eyes, but it was gone before he could tell what it was. He quickly looked away. "I…I don't want to talk about it." He added quickly, trying to change the subject, "Hey, is that breakfast I smell?" he hoped that his diversion had worked.

            Heero looked at Duo closely for a moment, then turned away. "Yeah…that's breakfast. But I don't think that I'd ever be able to cook enough for you." His tone was light, almost joking, as he turned and walked out of the room.

            Duo stared at the place where Heero had once been, his pain forgotten momentarily. _'Did Heero just…joke?'_ he asked himself, amazed. Forgetting about his injured state, he tried to move again and pain shot through his body as it did before, but it seemed worse this time. Tears pooled in his violet eyes, but he refused to let them fall. _'Big boys don't cry…big boys don't cry…big boys don't cry…'_ he chanted over and over in his head as he clenched his eyes shut against the pain. He didn't notice that Heero had returned with a plate of eggs and a mug of coffee and was now watching him closely. 

Heero watched in horrified amazement as a tear leaked from the corner of Duo's eye, slid down his bruised and cut cheek, and into the pillow. Heart clenching, he walked silently across the room, toward the now quietly sobbing Duo. He set the plate and mug down on the floor with a soft _thump_ that Duo didn't seem to notice. Then he slowly climbed into the bed with Duo and pulled him to his chest, holding the sobbing ex-Gundam Pilot close. "Duo…"

            ***

            Disclaimer: Does it _look_ like I own the rights to Gundam Wing to you? It doesn't? Good, 'cause I'm only gonna do this once this story.

            AN: This is just the start of SL…I plan on continuing this fic and adding more chapters…but I need to know if it's worth my time to continue it or not. So, please review and tell me if I should continue this or not. Thanks.

NightChild


	2. Tortured Confusion

            Scarlet Love

            Chapter Two:

            Tortured Confusion

            By: NightChild

            ***

            Heero held Duo that morning until he stopped crying and fell into an uneasy sleep. "What did this to you?" He asked the sparse room as he watched Duo toss and turn in the bed, seemingly lost in some sort of nightmare. Not knowing what else to do, he pulled Duo's struggling, sleeping form to him and held tightly.

            It was late night before Duo finally quieted down. Heero hadn't eaten anything since breakfast, but he refused to leave Duo's side, despite the demands of his stomach. So, he sat either on the floor or the bed and watched Duo sleep fitfully.

            Near dawn, a loud "HEERO!" snapped the said person out of the light doze he was in. Sitting up so fast he knocked over the now-cold mug of coffee he had been drinking, Heero looked toward the bed to see Duo laying in it. Duo was tossing and turning almost franticly and he kept mumbling things that Heero couldn't make out and occasionally, he'd yell "Heero"…but that was as much as Heero could understand of it.

            Sighing, Heero stood up and approached the bed. He really had to tend to the less serious and obvious wounds…but Duo hadn't let him near him if he had any first-aid supplies, but luckily, he had managed to tend to the worst of them. He watched Duo toss and turn restlessly and then headed to the bathroom to get what he needed to clean the rest of Duo's wounds, no matter what Duo had to say on the matter.

            Once he had gathered what he needed, Heero reentered the room. Duo was still on the bed, but in a different position than he had been. He silently crossed the room, avoiding the spilt coffee and its mug. Reaching the bed with the said tossing ex-Pilot in it, Heero lifted Duo's shirt and nearly gasped at the sight of his chest. There were cuts, burns and bruises all over what once was a beautiful, unflawed chest…most of those wounds were now slightly infected and would probably leave scars.

            Over his shock at the sight of Duo's chest, Heero dabbed a cotton ball in the antiseptic that he had brought with him out of the bathroom. He watched the cotton ball soak in the antiseptic, not really looking forward to what he was going to have to do with it. When the cotton ball was loaded up with the antiseptic, Heero pushed the still sleeping and thrashing Duo's shoulder to the bed to hold him still and he lightly pressed the cotton ball to one of the wounds.

            Duo felt something burning on his chest and he bit back a scream. His eyes were still tightly closed, he didn't want to see what he might if he opened his eyes. _'I… Hadn't I…escaped…'_ "No!" he yelled, trying to toss away from whatever it was that was causing the pain on his chest. He found he couldn't move far enough to get away from it, something was holding him down. Struggling, he cried out in pain and thrashed out his arms in any direction that he could manage. He felt his outstretched hand smack into what felt like someone's jaw.

            Heero staggered back from the force that was behind Duo's madly flying hand. He grunted as he brought the hand that wasn't still clutching the cotton ball to his stinging face, then he set his jaw, making his lips appear as a thin line and he re-approached the bed. "Duo, you're going to get your wounds cleaned, even if I have to tie you to that damned bed, do you understand me?" Heero ground out as he pinned Duo beneath him and he reached for the first-aid supplies.

            Duo's eyes snapped open as he felt something--or someone--settle on his thighs, causing more pain to shoot through him. He stared up at the figure sitting on him, trying to recognize who it was… He couldn't see well in the dull light of the room. "Who…W-Who are you…?" he whispered in a frightened voice.

            Heero paused in applying more antiseptic to another cotton ball and looked at Duo. "Duo, baka, it's me." he said, a little harsher than he intended. As he watched Duo closely, he wondered if Duo didn't recognize him because of the light or if he... He'd think about that later, he had to get the rest of Duo's wounds cleaned.

            Duo blinked a few times, trying to adjust his eyes to the light…or lack there of. "He-Heero…?"

            Heero let out a breath that he hadn't realized he'd been holding and nodded. "Yeah, it's me. You have to hold still, I need to clean the rest of your wounds." He saw Duo nod and grit his teeth. Setting his own jaw again, Heero set to work on cleaning Duo's wounds.

            ***

            What Heero had found while he was cleaning Duo's wounds were obvious signs of torture. There were scalded cuts on the inside of Duo's thighs… There was small, bruising pinprick like marks on the top of his feet… There were bruises, burns and cuts everywhere. Heero had felt--and still did--such rage that anyone would dare touch _his_ Duo--_'Where the hell did that come from?'_ he asked himself, stopping that disturbing train of thought. Duo made a moaning sound from the bed; he had passed out a while ago. Heero stood from the hard, wooden chair that he had dragged in and walked to the bed. "Duo?"

            Duo turned his head toward the gargled sound of a voice, trying to open his eyes to see whom it was. His eyes seemed to be glued shut, or something of the sort, they just wouldn't open. Trying again, he finally managed to pry one open. He saw someone with what looked like spiky, messy hair moving toward him. Squinting, he barely managed to recognize Heero's face, as he got closer to the bed. "This…this isn't a dream…is it? I'm-I'm safe now…?" he mumbled to himself.

            Heero paused in his approach of the bed at what he just barely managed to catch Duo say. He didn't realize that Duo had thought that making it to his house and lying in his bed was a dream… _'That means…he thought his nightmares were reality.'_  Taking the last few steps to the bed, Heero said in a voice that was the softest it had ever been, "You're safe, Duo. I won't let _anyone_ hurt you again."

            Sure that he was dreaming--Heero would _never_ say anything like that to him--he reached up with a shaky hand and caressed Heero's cheek. _'I don't want to wake up…'_ What surprised him though, was that Heero didn't pull away…in all of his other dreams, Heero had pulled away and gave him a glare that would cause death if it could. But this time Heero _didn't_ pull away. And that surprised Duo very much. He stared up at Heero with wide eyes and smiled as best he could with his battered face.

            Heero wondered why he wasn't pulling away from Duo's hand. He _should_ pull away. But…something felt so…right about it, nothing in his life had ever felt like this. Not piloting his Gundam. Not fighting in the wars. Not cutting himself off from the rest of the ex-Pilots and the world. Nothing. When Duo smiled, his chest gave a little jump and his breath caught. Duo was stunning, even with bruises and cuts all over his face.

            Before he knew it, Heero was leaning in toward Duo, his eyes half open… _'What am I doing?'_ he asked himself. _'What you've always wanted.'_ Was the answer from the small voice that shared his mind; he had decided that this voice had to be his conscious after the wars and he actually had time to waste on wistful thinking like that. His face was so close to Duo's now that he could feel his breath on his face, and his long bangs tickled his cheek. He was about to close off the distance between them, when Duo gave a startled sound of pain and his eyes rolled in the back of his head. He had passed out again. Sighing, Heero straightened and looked over Duo's form. _'What is it about him that dose this to me?'_ this time there was no answer from the voice that was his conscious.

            ***

            AN: Well, there's chapter two. I'll probably be starting chapter three soon. But I'm not sure when I'll get it out because I'm going on vacation for a few weeks…so, no updates for a while once I've left.

            Anyway, please review.

NightChild__


	3. Flitting Changes

Scarlet Love

Chapter Three:

Flitting Changes

By: NightChild

***

            When Duo regained consciousness again, he wasn't sure where he was. He only knew that he was in a soft bed and that someone was in that bed with him. Slowly opening his eyes to keep from making his head pound any more than it already did, he looked around the room and recognized it as the room he had foggy memories of…those memories included Heero, too. He smiled at that thought. "Heero…" he half sighed, half whispered.

            Heero snapped out of the doze he was in as he heard his name whispered on something that sounded a lot like a sigh. He had climbed in the bed with Duo in the night when Duo's nightmares had been so bad that he feared that he would do more damage to himself. He glanced over at Duo and saw that he was awake. "So…you've decided to join us in the land of the living again?" he was surprised at how easy it was to tease Duo. He used to never tease. He used to be all about the mission, with no room left for teasing…or anything, for that matter.

            Blinking and stifling a yawn, Duo nodded feebly. "How long have I been out for?" he asked, pushing back the memories of his torture and nightmares. The nightmares that he had thought were reality.

            Heero watched Duo visibly push something from his mind. That was something he, Heero, was good at, pushing things from his mind. Like his feelings for Duo. That was a prime example. He would never admit to anyone, including himself, that he felt anything other than friendship for Duo. There was just no way that he was going to do that…. But the way that Duo watched him through half lidded eyes made his heart beat with the power of love, need, and want…in all ways.

            Duo watched Heero watching him; he saw the flits of emotions that flew across his face, they were so brief that unless someone knew exactly what they were looking for, they would never see those emotions flash across that once ice-like face. But Duo knew what to look for. He had learned to recognize what few emotions he could back in the wars. Back then, Heero had shown hardly any emotion at all. One was lucky if they could get anger out of him. But now…now it was different. Heero had changed. Just like the rest of them.

            Stomach growling, Duo shook himself out of his musings. "Is there anything to eat around here? I'm kinda hungry." He smiled as best he could with his face swollen as it was.

            Heero felt a smile fight it's way to his face, and he didn't try to push it back, there wasn't a point. It was a loosing battle. He couldn't control his emotions as he had once…but in this case he didn't think that it really mattered. Duo seemed to be on the mend, if only slightly, and that was what mattered. He went to stand, but Duo's hand gripping his arm stopped him. Looking at Duo questioningly, he grunted, returning to the minimal language he had used during the wars.

            "How long have I been out of it?" Duo asked again, afraid of what the answer would be…afraid that he wouldn't get an answer.

            Somehow sensing Duo's fear, Heero moved the arm that Duo gripped and gave his arm a brief squeeze, something he had never done before, for anyone. "Just a day and two nights." He answered lightly, surprising himself with the tone, surprising Duo with the tone and that only that short amount of time had elapsed.

            Nodding, Duo let go of Heero's arm. He would've questioned the passage of time, but it would've just made Heero annoyed at him and he didn't have the energy to have anyone annoyed with him at that moment.

            "I'll go get you something to eat." Heero said, before getting up and leaving the room.

***

            AN:

            I'm not going to reply individually to my reviewers because that takes up a lot of time and space….so…**_thank you all for reviewing_** and I hope that you liked this chapter.

            I've survived my trip to Ohio and I'm now home, thank the gods, and can now write more. I felt so loved when I came home and there were so many reviews for this story. I know that this chapter was a bit short, but I wanted to get it out for you guys.

            And, Demonic Little Sister came up with, "…made his heart beat with the power of love, need, and want…in all ways." So all credit goes to her for that.

            Until next time,

            Ja`ne.


	4. Hinting Memory

            Scarlet Love

            Chapter Four:

            Hinting Memory

            By: NightChild

            ***

            Nearly a week had passed since Duo had stumbled to Heero's house in the dead of the night. Heero was pleased that Duo's wounds seemed to be healing nicely…but he was still confused on the subject that was his thoughts and feelings on the said ex-Pilot. Finally, he had admitted that he felt _something_ other than friendship for Duo, but he still wasn't sure what that _something_ was and he wasn't about to ask Duo about it, either.

            Standing from his wooden chair in what used to be his room before a very injured Duo had come along, Heero walked to the door and repaired to leave. He was stopped, however, when he heard a strange noise come from the bed. Curious, he walked to the bed and looked down at Duo's sleeping form. _'He's having another nightmare.'_ The thought crossed his mind just as a pained expression crossed Duo's sleeping face. _'What do you dream about, Duo?'_ he wondered for what seemed like the hundredth time.

            ***

            _I couldn't see anything; someone had blindfolded me in addition to the chains that were constantly present after I had tried to escape for the third time. Even though my sigh was nil, I could still hear, feel and smell, and I didn't like what those senses brought me. The sound of tortured screams, the feel of the cold wall behind me and the titanium of the chains biting into my already bruised flesh, the smell of blood…._

_            I found myself wishing that they had kept me drugged, at least then I wouldn't be able to feel the pain and abuse that my body had been through, and I wouldn't be able to have coherent thoughts. That was probably why they stopped forcing chemicals into my bloodstream, to torture me further, to drive me to my breaking point. They were so close, too…it wouldn't take much for my fragile sanity to slip away and leave me a sad shell of myself._

_            The sharp of my cell door opening sound brought my head up, even though it was futile because I could not see a thing. I fought the urge to call out to whoever had opened the door in such a loud way, but I wouldn't let myself give them the satisfaction of knowing that I, the great Shinigami [1], was afraid of them…but I was. I needed to get out of there…_

_            Rough hands forced me to my feet and then unchained me from the wall, but there was no way that I could escape, I couldn't see and my hands were already cuffed together. The same rough hands began to drag me to more pain…more hot knives, punches, kicks, needles, and whatever else their sick minds could come up with._

            Those thoughts brought a scream from me, a scream I didn't even know that I was screaming, a scream that didn't feel real…but it was…

            "Duo! Duo, wake up!"

            Duo's head snapped away from the voice, still screaming.

            Heero took Duo by the shoulders and shook him, scared, but not admitting it. "DUO!"

            That got a reaction from Duo, he stopped screaming and his eyes snapped open. He gazed around the room in a horrified dazed before he realized that he was having a nightmare…no…remembering…and that he was safe, with Heero. That realization brought tears to his eyes, but he didn't let them fall. He. would. not. cry. But his body wasn't listening to his mind and the tears fell anyway.

            Heero watched the glistening tears fall down Duo's face for a brief moment before, on an instinct, scooping Duo into his arms and holding the weeping ex-Pilot in his arms, smoothing over his messy braid and making small comforting noises. He had never seen Duo break down so completely, and he felt a ranging anger at whoever had tortured him to the point that he was this fragile. They would pay….

***

            [1]: Special thanks to LadyDragonWolfKnight, Lady SallyRose, Jade Crescent, kaori-chan, MoO-mOo3, Azreal, and Duo Lover 2x1 for telling me how to spell this properly…. Japanese is hard to figure out how to spell, man.

AN:

            I know, I know, short chapter and sorta-cliffie...but what can I say? I wanted to get this out ASAP for you guys. _And_ I am writing chapter five…but I'm also trying to finish off "When Telemarketers Attack Or Mindless Dribble"…plus, I've given myself a word-goal for chapter five…so it might take a while to get this out…but, hey, at least I'm trying.

            **_THANK YOU_** to Lone Warriors, Mistress Of Anime, Silversqueen, Rayne-Jelly, Vic, Beck, demonlover, Chain, LadyDragonWolfKnight, White Destiny, Super Poodle, Tenshi-Usa, Blue-Pig, Sivy, MiakaChan5, rikasakuraduo-heerosyliaspike, aMEClife, Shinimegami's Lone Death Angel, Kenren19, mindmelda, Shinigamora, Lady SallyRose, Jade Crescent, kaori-chan, MoO-mOo3, Azreal, Duo Lover 2x1, and ryoku1 for reviewing. I would respond to you all, but as you see, there would be a lot to respond to.

            Until next time…

            Ja`ne.


	5. Dangerous Tears

            Scarlet Love

            Chapter Five:

            Dangerous Tears

            By: NightChild

            ***

            Duo clung to Heero, still weeping, but trying to stop, amazed and more than a little surprised that Heero was letting him cling to him like he was, but he didn't have enough energy to linger on it. He just couldn't take it anymore. Couldn't take the memories that haunted him in the night. Couldn't take the love that he had to suppress every hour that he was awake. He let out a half distressed, half frustrated noise and felt Heero's arms tighten around him.

            Heero didn't know why he was holding Duo like he was, he didn't even know why his chest constricted when he heard the small whimper-like sound that filtered to his ears. He shook his head violently. There didn't seem like there was any way for him to understand his feelings, so he tried to push them back. Slipping his cracked, emotionless mask back into place, he stood up abruptly, letting Duo fall from his arms with a startled noise. He left the room without a word, not trusting his voice if he did speak, because he knew it would betray his conflicting emotions.

            Duo stared at the place on the bed where Heero had just been from his semi-crumpled position near the pillows, wondering what had happened to make that sudden change of mood happen. He felt the now all too familiar sing of tears in his eyes. This time, he didn't bother to hold them back, and just let them fall, crushing his face into a pillow to muffle the sound of his crying.

            Heero stalked up and down the short hall between the bedroom and front room, wondering what had come over him and how he was becoming so soft. He stopped in his tracks as he passed the bedroom door again and heard a very muffled sob. "Kuso!" he swore before storming out of the house, he didn't know where he was going, but he had to get away from Duo before his tears…before he lost his mind, yes that was it, before he lost his mind.

            Looking around the deserted park that had to have been miles from his house, Heero wondered how he had gotten there as he didn't remember actually _going_ there, but he just seemed to end up there. He looked around the park; it was nice enough, with its playground for the little kids, tall, tall trees, small stream, and benches. It looked like the perfect place to bring one's family. But Heero wasn't with a family, and he probably would never be with a family. It was just how he was, after the wars; he purposely hid himself away from the world…from everyone. Even he didn't understand _why_ he had done it, it had just seemed like the right thing to do. He followed that feeling of righteousness, not knowing that his solitude wouldn't last, thanks to a certain ex-Pilot. _'Duo…'_

            He shook his head once very violently. Hadn't he left the house to forget about him? Hadn't he?! …But that didn't seem very possible because all of his thoughts seemed to always come back to the battered, violet-eyed, longhaired young man that lay in his bed. He made a noise that sounded much like a growl. _'Everything's falling apart.'_

            There was a rustling of bushes near by and there was a snap of a twig on the other side of the park, Heero reached quietly and slowly for his gun. There was someone, possibly two someones, out there….

            ***

            Once he had managed to get his tears under control, Duo was able to register that Heero had left. _'Probably couldn't take your sniveling.'_ Came the voice that taunted him relentlessly. He felt a stab of pain in his chest, as if someone had punctured his heart with a needle or another sharp object at the thought that Heero probably _had left_ because of _him_. The feeling of tears prickling at his eyes resurfaced again, but he forced them back. _'I've cried enough…no more tears.'_ He thought as he raised himself out of the rumbled bed. Enough tears had been cried by him, now he had to do something about what had happened to him, before something else happened, something that would involve not just him, but his friends as well.

            He stumbled over to the vid-phone and pressed the buttons that he somehow remembered, he waited…and waited…

            Quatre's face appeared in the vid-screen, a polite smile on his pale face. "Quatre Winner here how may I--Duo! What happened?!" he cut his usual greeting off at the sight of Duo's still bruised and cut face, his aqua-marine eyes instantly filled with concern.

            Duo found himself smiling as best he could at the typical Quatre-reation. "Long story…"

Trowa showed up by Quatre's side to see what had distressed him, not liking _anything_ to upset his Quatre. They had been a "couple" since six months after the wars; when Trowa had left the circus to discover what it was like to be him, just him, free of the wars and everything else that was attached to them. He had come to Quatre on a whim of his emotions, he had felt something for Quatre ever since he had met him, but he had pushed that down because there wasn't time for anything other than the war and missions. But he had come to Quatre, knowing that if he didn't reveal his feelings, he would regret it for the rest of his life. Quatre had told him that he felt the same way, and they had been together ever since.

            "We have time." Stated Quatre as he leaned into Trowa's offered arms.

            Duo launched into a short, un-detailed account of what had happened to him. Only saying what had to be said for them to understand what was going on…

            "…I think Heero's in danger." He finished, watching the expressions of his friend's faces. He'd need their help if Heero really were in danger, if the people who had tortured him were after Heero.

            ***

            AN:

            Look! I made my word-goal of one thousand words…plus some! I'm happy. Anyway, I know, bad cliffies…but hey, I'll be writing more.

            Oh, do you guys want short chapters with (I hope) quicker updates, or longer chapters with less quick updates? _Please_ let me know because I'm torn as to whether or not I should do short or long.

            Until next time…

            Ja`ne.


	6. Worried Shots

            Scarlet Love

            Chapter Six:

            Worried Shots

            By: NightChild

            ***

            At hearing Duo's words, Quatre's face showed even more concern, and Trowa actually visibly (to anyone that hadn't been around him much) showed concern. "Do you know where he is, Duo?" asked Trowa, "And where are you?" he questioned again, having not heard where Heero's house was, therefore, not having heard where Duo was, either. Quatre nodded with every word that Trowa said.

            Duo sighed, he wasn't exactly sure where he was himself, he knew that he was somewhere on earth, but that was about it. He hadn't really been in much of a state to know exactly where he was when he showed up at Heero's door and his captors hadn't told him anything helpful. "I'm not…really sure, to tell ya the truth." He said with a small parody of The Maxwell Grin. "I know that we're on earth…but beside that, I couldn't tell you. Can't you like…I dunno…track the signal or something?"

            Trowa nodded and was gone from the vid-screen. Quatre moved closer to the vid-screen now that he could because Trowa had left to go track the signal. "Should we try to contacted Wufei?" he asked while listening to the distant, soft sounds of Trowa moving about their house in search for all of the things that he'd need to track the signal.

            Duo nodded and chirped as best he could, "Hai!" he had picked up some Japanese during the wars while being around Heero on extended missions, granted he knew mainly insults, because that was pretty much all Heero would say to him in Japanese…. He missed Heero and was worried about him; he hoped he was safe.

            Once Trowa managed to track the signal, Duo closed the connection after Quatre promised to help him contact Wufei then take the next shuttle to where he, Duo, was. He tried to contact Wufei. Getting no answer. So he tried again, and again, and again. He tried for fifteen minutes before he gave up, being impatient as he was, and leaving to go look for Heero.

            ***

            Heero sensed the gunshot before the trigger was even pulled, and he was able to doge the bullet that had been aimed for his heart. _'They're good.'_ Was all he thought before aiming his gun in the direction that the bullet had come from and firing. He didn't wait to hear if the bullet had hit its target before he leapt into the air, flipped and landed in the bushes, readying his gun for another shot.

            As soon as he landed, he noticed that someone had already killed the man that was hidden in the bushes. The man lay in the puddle of his own blood, which still slightly dripped from the fresh gunshot wound in his left temple, dressed in a black and white uniform--black shirt, white breeches--with the letters "NRF" written in a bold, blocky white font on the black beret-like cap that lay near the still-warm body. _'Who did this?'_ he had not fired into the bushes, but the other side of the park where the twig snap had come from. He wasn't left much time to ponder that, because out of the corner of his eye he saw a blur of white move in the bushes and he darted after it, keeping his gun ready, and not thinking to check on his supposedly fallen target.

            ***

            AN:

            I've gotten more requests for short chapters and (hopefully) quick updates. So…the chapters will be short, but I hope to update at least once a week, if not twice a week. But if I somehow manage to develop a life outside the computer (not likely), I'll start doing longer chapters with longer spaces between updates. And long chapters for me is 1,000 plus words…I like to write chapters in one sitting if I can…which is why they tend to be short.

            A big, huge thank you and cookie to kaori-chan, Lady Centurion, dark cloud, LaLa Berry, MiakaChan5, Shinigami's Forlorn Angel, Water-chan, AcidSleekness, Tyi (I did send you an e-mail), and Lord Havoc's Minion for reviewing and helping me decide about the chapter length, etc.

            Until next time…

            Ja`ne


	7. Surprising Trail

            Scarlet Love

            Chapter Seven:

            Surprising Trail

            By: NightChild

            ***

            Heero ran after the white streak as fast as he could, and he still couldn't catch up with it. _'Kuso!'_ He had to run faster, but his legs were already thumping against the ground as hard and fast as he could make them, he could feel them starting to tire already, even though a "normal" person wouldn't call what he had just ran "already", because he had just ran nearly three miles. Just as he was about to give up on chasing and start shooting, the white streak that he had been chasing dropped down in front of him, startling him slightly and making him ready his gun with a lightning-quick movement.

            There stood a young Chinese man, dressed in the traditional Chinese garb, in white. The young man smirked. "Hello, Yuy. Don't you know you're in danger?" He watched Heero though onyx eyes, as if bored.

            Heero eyed the young Chinese that now blocked his path. He grunted in reply to the asked question. There was something that hadn't felt right after he fired his gun back at the park, but it was something very slight, and he wasn't sure if he wasn't just imagining it. "Out of my way, Wufei." He ordered through clenched teeth. Getting to a more strategic location was essential to defeating whatever it was that was tracking him.

            The young Chinese man, Wufei, didn't move, didn't even seem to breathe, just stood. "Make me, Yuy." He dropped into a fighting stance, and waited.

            ***

            Duo ran toward a park that he vaguely remembered stumbling through when he had been semi-conscious after his escape, the only reason why he was heading to that park was because it was the only place that he really remembered being at before somehow showing up at Heero's house on that stormy night, just barely more than a week past.

            Somehow managing to remember the exact location of the park, Duo arrived at the park winded and all of his still-healing injuries stinging and pulsing with pain; he was still trying to recover from his torture. Shaking his head to get keep his mind from wandering to the hell that he had lived through, he scanned the park with his violet eyes, looking for Heero. After not seeing him, he decided that walking around would probably be the best idea and started to do just that, keeping an ear out for any sounds of danger.

            As he passed by a tall tree, he noticed something that looked an awful lot like a bullet hole in the tree's trunk. He stopped and then walked closer to the tree to look at the suspicious-looking hole. Sure enough, it was a bullet hole, and it was fresh enough that a small amount of sap still trickled down the trunk of the tree. Duo also noticed that there was a small trail of blood leading along the tree line to a tall outcropping of bushes. He followed the trail, hoping the whole time that it wasn't Heero that was bleeding and that the trail of blood would lead him to Heero, somehow.

            ***

            Heero watched Wufei with measured calmness. If he really were being tracked, he needed to get out of there and to a better location as soon as he could, but Wufei was blocking his only clear path--they were now in a densely-wooded area and the trees were too thick to just leave the path and run though--to anywhere away from the park that he had just ran three miles from. Through gritted teeth he grunted, "I said, get. out. of. my. way."

            Wufei didn't move. "And I said, Yuy, 'make me.'" Heero couldn't go that way, there was a trap laying in wait for him that way, but Heero would never listen, he was too stubborn and still mission-focused to heed any warnings that Wufei would try to give to him. The only alterative was to fight him, hopefully leading him away from the ambush. And so, Wufei rushed forward with a well-aimed punch before Heero could shoot him.

            ***

            AN:

            This chapter is a little longer than the other one; I hope everyone liked it and that they aren't too short or anything. And to answer kaori-chan's question about the cookie, it was chocolate chip ^.^

            **_Thank you_** and a glomp each to Jill, violet_eyes, Randalbezerker, Wolfgirl333, Duo-js, and kaori-chan for reviewing!

            Until next time…

            Ja`ne


	8. Reverting Back

            Scarlet Love

            Chapter Eight:

            Reverting Back

            By: NightChild

            Slight warning: there are some small spoilers for Endless Waltz here….

            ***

            Heero didn't block the punch that Wufei had aimed for his left cheek in time, and was hit square on by the punch, his head snapping back with the force of it. He wiped the thin trail of blood from the corner of his mouth away. Then he attacked with a lightning-quick punch of his own, aiming for Wufei's abdomen, putting as much force behind the blow as he could, he couldn't afford to waste time with this fight. He had to shake his trackers, if there were really any--old habits die hard, as they say, and Heero still didn't completely trust anyone…well…except maybe for Duo Maxwell, but he wasn't about to admit it to anyone, including himself--and get back to the house to tend to Duo.

            There wasn't time for Heero to linger on that train of thoughts, because at that moment he was thrown back into a tree and pinned there by his opponent, Wufei. "Listen to me, Yuy. There's a trap waiting for you just a little farther up this path, do you really want to get caught by them?!" ground out Wufei, his onyx eyes glinting dangerously.

            Heero glared at his once-ally and comrade, and half-snarled out, "Just how do you know this?" Memories of the Eve War [1] flashed through his mind. Wufei had acted as a member of Mariemaia's army, for reasons that were of his own, although it had looked like he had betrayed his fellow Pilots. Things had turned in the end, however, and he had helped bring the army down.

            Wufei's voice brought Heero out of his reminiscent thoughts, "I am posing as one of their soldiers because of a Preventer mission. I found out they had located you and Duo, they were planning on staking out a park near your house, and setting traps in it just incase you were spotted--"

            Heero effectively cut Wufei off, "If they knew where we were, why didn't they just attack the house?"

            Wufei sighed and continued, "I do not know, I can only guess that they knew that plan would not work and decided to chance that one of you would show up at this park." He finished his explanation, watching Heero's face, but he couldn't see any emotion on that face or in the deep blue eyes, it seemed that Heero Yuy had reverted back to being The Perfect Solider.

            ***

            Duo followed the trail of blood into a thicket of bushes, and fell back a step at what he saw. Lying on the ground in a puddle of congealing blood, laid a man that was obviously a solider when he was still living. He had a hole in his head that could only be a bullet wound, his apparently once-white-blond hair soaked in the slightly chunking mass of blood that surrounded him, the black of his uniform shirt darker in places where the blood had seeped through, his white breeches stained forever sickening red, the black and white beret-like hat the same sickening red where the letters stood out and the black darker than it should have been.

            Duo reeled back at the gruesome sight be fore him, it had been a while since he had to face that much gore; and he had never liked gore much in the first place. He hadn't thought that he would have to deal with it ever again. But he was horribly mistaken. "Who did this…?" he gasped out as he gathered the mask that he had pushed to the back of his mind after the war ended. "It looks like Shinigami's gonna have to come back from hell." He said to himself before darting off into the woods, following the slight blood trail that continued away from the chilling sight of the body that had once been a man.

            ***

            [1]: I _think_ that's what they called the war that was in Endless Waltz, if I have it wrong, would someone tell me?

            AN: I realize that this chapter is short (again) and it's been a while since I updated, but I'm fighting writers block at the moment.

            **_Thank you_**, a glomp and a cookie to BlueMoonDuchess, Duo-js, Cherrii, Wolfgirl333, Aquarius, Yaoi addict, Randalbezerker, Blue Eyed Angel2, and Lone Warriors for reviewing (some of you repeatedly) and brightening my day.

            Until next time…

            Ja`ne


	9. Frightening Realizations

            Scarlet Love

            Chapter Nine:

            Frightening Realizations

            By: NightChild

            ***

            Before Wufei could blink, Heero was gone, apparently heading toward the ambush that he, Wufei, knew was laying in wait. There was no way to stop Heero now that he had become The Perfect Solider again, Wufei would be dead before he even got close enough to land a proper kick or punch. "Damnit." He swore quietly before he decided on a course of action, one that would probably land him in a hospital again or worse. He took of in the same direction that Heero had headed in, hoping that he could somehow stop him from falling into the enemy's hands.

            Heero's thoughts were clam, collected, almost mechanical. He knew what he had to do…no one would live that could pose a threat to _his_ Duo. Not caring where that wave of possessiveness came from, or having the time to care, he ran into what Wufei had said was a trap. A grin that showed no emotion spread on his face as he reached for his gun. _'They have no idea who they are messing with.'_ And he was gone into the trees.

            ***

            Duo ran as fast as he could while still following the trail of blood, looking ahead of himself, least he trip over something. But that's just what he did, he tripped over something that was solid yet soft at the same time, as he tumbled to the ground, he wondered what it was. He got the answer to his unvoiced question when he looked toward his feet and came face-to-face with the cold, lifeless eyes of a soldier wearing a uniform of the same design that the other dead man had been wearing. He cussed, not wanting to face more grisly bodies that day, but obviously not having a choice in the matter.

            Sitting up, careful not to touch the dead soldier, he peered at the lifeless eyes, noticing that if their owner were living, they probably would have been very beautiful blue eyes, probably a lot like Heero's eyes. That thought brought more disturbing thoughts to his mind; what if Heero laid somewhere like this, his eyes staring lifelessly at nothing? He shook his head. _'Pull yourself together, man!'_ he berated himself as he looked for the cause of the death that lay in front of him.

The dead man had a glaring bullet wound in his side that had bled profusely and, seemingly, led to his death. Blood had pooled around him, now sticking to the ground in semi-hard globs, staining everything it touched a sickening, dark red. Death wasn't easy on this man, it looked like it had come slow and the trail of blood that Duo had been following certainly belonged to the dead solider.

            Suddenly, something clicked in Duo's mind, triggering a memory that he had fought to bury in a shallow grave. But things like that don't like to stay buried and Duo was flung into the past….

            I was bound to a table and blindfolded, not sure what was going to happen, only sure of the pain that always came when they dragged me to this place…this place that smelled oddly coppery and rancid at the same time. The smell made me feel sick to my stomach and the urge to escape even stronger in my mind. A sound like a door opening and closing on rusty hinges brought my attention to my right. And I knew that there was no possible escape now…not today.

            A shuffling, a slight pain in my right forearm, then a burning sensation. They were drugging me again, to make sure that I couldn't block out the pain like I had learned to do. Those sick bastards wanted me to feel everything that they did to me, not really caring any more that they could kill me. My thoughts began to slow as their drug took effect.

            And I was lost in a haze of constant pain…not knowing if it would ever stop, hoping it would stop, crying out, screaming, tearing at my restraints…needing to escape.

            Shaking his head to rid himself of the memory, Duo was sure that the soldiers were part of the same group that had caught and tortured him. Heero was most definitely was in grave danger. With that realization, Duo was on his feet again and running in a direction that he hoped would lead to Heero.

            ***

            AN: Well…that's chapter nine for you. I realize that my writing is slowing down, but I'm having trouble sticking to the plot that I laid out for this story and I'm also trying to catch a cold of some sort. I'll up date as soon as I can.

            **THANK YOU** to Shinigami's Forlorn Angel, BlueMoonDuchess, Duo-js, kaori-chan, gohans-girl1, and Reaper02Angel for reviewing and brightening my day ^.^ I continue to write for you.

            Until next time…

            Ja`ne


	10. Fighting Ambush

            Scarlet Love

            Chapter Ten:

            Fighting Ambush

            By: NightChild

            ***

            As Duo ran, he noticed a blur of white at his side. _'Trouble.'_ He suddenly skidded to a stop, looking around for the flash of blurred white. Abruptly, someone dropped out of a tree right in front of him. The person stood up, his form backlit. "It's been a long time, Maxwell." Said a young man's voice, a voice that Duo recognized.

            Duo looked at the young man standing in front of him. "Wufei?" he asked disbelievingly. The young man who had jumped from the tree nodded. "What…where…how?" Duo asked all at once.

            Wufei sighed. "It's not important right now, Maxwell. What is important is that Yuy is heading knowingly into an ambush." Stepping so he wasn't backlit any more, he pierced Duo with his onyx gaze as he said, "I tried to tell him, but he ignored me. Yuy is now The Perfect Soldier again." With that, he turned and ran off in the same direction that he was running in before he had sensed someone heading toward his position and had jumped into a tree to ambush whoever it was. Turned out to be Maxwell, which he wasn't sure if it was a good thing or not, but he didn't have the time to dwell on that. He had to catch up with Yuy before the ambush was sprung.

            It took a moment for it all to sink in for Duo, but when it did, he darted off after Wufei, hoping that he could get to his secret love before something horrible happened. _'Heero…'_

            ***

            Heero knew he was being followed, but that wouldn't stop him. He had to complete the mission he had decided was his to take. Destroying whatever NRF was, was the only way to ensure Duo's safety, and everything else was irrelevant, including his own life. Nothing could stop him and if anything or anyone tried to, they'd be dead before they know what hit them.

            Running faster than what should be humanly possible, he forced all thoughts from his head beside, _'Only the mission matters. My life has no meaning. I cannot fail Duo. I will not fail. I will die first…'_

            His thoughts were snapped off when he felt something hit the left side of his face hard, making his head snap back and his jaw pop from the force of the blow, but he kept his feet under him and refused to let himself acknowledge the sting of pain in his face and the trickle of blood that was now dripping from the corner of his mouth, down his chin and onto the dirt path. He felt the air pressure change around him and blocked a punch that was thrown at him with his left forearm.

            Quickly, he glanced around and saw that he was now surrounded by about twenty soldiers in the NRF uniform. They were all posed for instant hand-to-hand attack and all looked younger than himself or about his age. _'They're my enemy.' _With that, he launched himself at the nearest soldier and landed a firm punch to the young man's face, knocking him off his feet and unconscious.

            Heero was instantly fighting off all of the opposing force that stood around him.

            ***

            The obvious sounds of a giant fistfight reached Wufei's ears as he ran. _'I'm too late, it's already started.'_ He thought as he raced faster, hoping to offer at least some help to Yuy. But he was nearly positive that no matter what he did--if he could get there before the rest of the ambush plan was set into play--it wouldn't matter, Yuy would still be captured and… He forced his thoughts away from that; he would _not_ let them have Yuy…for Maxwell's sake.

            Trees blurred by him as he pushed himself on, they couldn't be that much farther off…if they were, he wouldn't make it in time to even stall the ambush's planned events. _'Faster.'_ He thought as he leapt over a fallen log in his path.

            A gunshot echoed through the dense forest, bringing Duo and Wufei to a dead-halt. "HEERO!" Duo's cry ran out after the gunshot and Duo's form dashed by a stunned Wufei. And all seemed to move in slow motion…

            ***

            AN: Wow…okay…you're all gonna hate me for that cliffie, hm? Oh well…I hope to get the next chapter out sometime next week or something.

            Special thanks go out to Ryll-chan (Emilie Grant) for being my beta…and to LadyDragonWolfKnight for catching spelling/grammar errors in chapter nine.

            **_THANK YOU_** to Reaper02Angel, Duo-js, LadyDragonWolfKnight, Seki Shinigami, Keiran, violet_eyes, Blue Eyed Angel2, PATTY 40, Shinigami's Forlorn Angel, MusumeMarron, and lilly kay for reviewing.

            Until next time…

            Ja`ne


	11. Sorrowful Darkness

            Scarlet Love

            Chapter Eleven:

            Sorrowful Darkness

            By: NightChild

            ***

            When Wufei caught up to Maxwell, he found him in a cleaning where a physical conflict had obviously taken place with the earth scattered about in unnatural ways, drops of blood sprinkled here and there, even small scraps of cloth. What was disturbing about the clearing was Maxwell sitting on the ground next to a fairly large dark spot that could only be blood; he sat there clutching a gun that Wufei recognized as Yuy's.

            After a few moments of silence, Duo looked up at Wufei from his place on the ground, expression forlorn. "They have him, Wufei…" his voice didn't sound like his own. It sounded broken, as if the life had been sucked out of it and left a shell of a once-cheerful voice. "I've failed." Came a whisper that wobbled with emotions suppressed, strained by tears viciously crushed down, choked as a heart tried desperately to shatter in a million pieces that would never mend back together.

            "No you haven't." a new voice answered, in an almost monotone.

            Wufei's head snapped around, preparing to launch into a physical attack to defend his distraught comrade--_'Friend…'_ whispered a voice that he had once cursed, but now near-cherished--to the death, if need-be. His eyes widened only slightly as he set his gaze on the newcomer… "Barton." He said in half greeting, half acknowledgement, slightly relaxing his tense frame. There wasn't time for Barton to respond before Wufei's frame went taut with another fighting-stance as the bushes rustled.

            Trowa looked at Wufei, seeing him stiffen up, but not becoming on edge himself. "Quatre." He said, answering an unsaid question and seeing Wufei relax slightly again.

            Quatre took that moment to break through the thick brush and wave to Wufei, not yet spotting Duo, and walking up to Trowa's side. "Where's Duo and Hee--" he cut his sentience off, noticing the state that Duo was in as his eyes scanned the clearing. He instantly understood what had happened. _'We have to save him…for Duo's, and our own sake.'_ He thought while he walked briskly to the side of his distressed friend, kneeling down and putting a comforting hand on his shoulder once he reached his side.

            ***

            Heero awoke to a world of pain, not able to make his eyes focus properly on his surroundings. He didn't know where he was, or why his body felt like he had self-detonated. The only thing that made sense in his pain-hazed mind was that he wasn't with Duo and that frightened him for reasons that he wasn't about to admit to himself. _Afraid_ to admit to himself, because that meant that his efforts to sever ties with them all after the wars had ended would be for nothing…pointless.

            Sounds of a rusty door being opened made Heero instantly close his eyes, slow his breathing and heart-rate, faking sleep. The door opened with a loud clank that would have woken him had he actually been asleep, but as it were, he just laid still as he could, focusing on keeping his breathing slow and calm, heart-rate slow and steady. He couldn't risk them knowing he was conscious as of yet, not until he had figured out a course of action. So he feigned sleep, trying to listen to whatever noises or discussion he could catch.

            ***

AN: Look, I didn't leave you guys with a cliffie this time! Be happy, I was very, very tempted to. Sorry it took so long to get out, my usual beta, **Emilie Grant**, is having problems with her e-mail and wasn't able to get into it…so I enlisted **Berrful Hunter**'s help and she beta-ed this chapter for me. Big, huge thank you to them.

            **_THANK YOU_** to MusumeMarron, Jade Crescent (yay, a death-threat…er…promise!), PATTY 40, violet_eyes, Kaori-chan, Bunch-o-Nuts, gohans-girl1, Asukas-Doll, Blue Eyed Angel2, Shinigami's Forlorn Angel, Yume Nezumi, and Baby Sphinx for reviewing and brightening my day…I know I have done a good job when I have been told I am evil by at least three people and had my life threatened.

            Until next time…

            Ja`ne


	12. Revealed Capture

            Scarlet Love

            Chapter Twelve:

            Revealed Capture

            By: NightChild

            ***

            As Heero listened, shoving everything from his mind--pain, worries, everything--he discovered (by listening to his captors talk) that he was being held prisoner by an organization of angry, misled, soldiers calling themselves "Neo Romefeller Foundation". It was obvious to Heero, they had to have had someone behind their masses pulling strings…someone who had been in the original Romefeller Foundation; probably someone whom had been in the higher ranks and had a fair amount of finances to toss around.

            Just when he thought that they were going to leave the room and let him be, he heard one of the men turn. "You can quit playing possum, Heero Yuy, we know you're not asleep or unconscious." Said the oily voice of the man Heero heard stop and turn.

            Eyes snapping open, Heero glared a glare that promised death, a slow, painful death. He looked at the men in the room, one waiting silently in shadows by the rusted, but strong-looking, metal door, the other standing halfway between the medical-like table that Heero was strapped to and the door. Both had the black-and-white uniforms on, complete with the beret-like hat. The man that had spoken (the one in the middle of the room), had dark, tanned skin and near-white-blond hair, the combination setting off the uniform more with added contrast. Before Heero could get a clear view of his eyes, the man turned and left the room.

            Losing his forced mental focus, Heero screwed his eyes shut with pain as it ripped through his body [1]. With a great effort, he somehow managed to smash it down and began to think of a plan to destroy NRF, and escape.

            ***

            When Duo was able to collect himself and speak without his voice trembling, he looked at Trowa, Quatre, and Wufei. "We need to save him." He stated simply, but the look in his eyes told them all that he was on the brink of sanity, one small push would send him over.

            Stepping closer to Duo, Quatre said with all the certaincy he could muster, "We _will _get him back, Duo." Trowa and Wufei nodded in agreement. Those words and gestures brought a spark of hope back into the crushed, broken violet eyes that were Duo Maxwell's. Seeing this, Quatre continued, "We need to think of a plan to rescue him."

            With careful deftness, they set their minds to the task of rescuing one Heero Yuy, currently held captive by Neo Romefeller Foundation, probably being tortured, drugged, and in a great amount of pain.

            They had their task cut out for them.

            After a few hours of planning, they returned to Heero's house for the weapons they knew he somehow had kept together and then left in the jeep-like vehicle they had arrived in. The former pilots set out, armed as much as they could be with a few grenades, hand-guns, rifles, machine-guns, and some other odds-and-ends, to the location where Duo estimated NRF's current base was; all hoping that they'd reach their destination in time.

            ***

            A sharp, short pain in his left arm brought Heero back to consciousness, his eyes flashing open as cobalt lightning. He glanced over to his left arm and saw that a medical needle hung loosely in one of his veins.

Quickly disregarding it, he looked around the room to see if anything had changed. It hadn't. The room was still dingy, dim, the rusted-yet-strong-looking door still shut…he blinked his eyes as the door seemed to flutter like a flag would in a heavy breeze. _'They've…drugged me…'_ were his last coherent thoughts before his mind became too foggy to form thoughts.

            ***

            AN: This chapter is just a little longer that the last one. Wow, 100+ reviews! This chapter is dedicated to Duo Lover 2x1 for being the 100th reviewer, much glomps and chocolate to Duo Lover 2x1.

            Please leave excuses for any errors you see in this chapter because I wanted to get it out asap and edited it myself.

            [1]: Many thanks to Lynds for helping me with that troublesome sentience.

            **_THANK YOU_** to PATTY 40, Duo-js, kaori-chan, Lord Havoc's Minion, utsubame, gohans-girl1, The MUTT aka Ri, Asukas-Doll, LadyDragonWolfKnight, Starlight Soul, Angel Of Reincarnation, Bunch-o-Nuts, and Duo Lover 2x1 for reviewing, many of you repeatedly.

            Until next time…

            Ja`ne


	13. Blessed Darkness

            Scarlet Love

            Chapter Thirteen:

            Blessed Darkness

            By: NightChild

            ***

            Pain. It seemed that the whole world was made of pain to Heero. Sluggish pain, sharp, stabbing pain, throbbing pain, numb pain…any other type of pain that one could physically feel, he felt it. And he was becoming nearly desperate. After only what actually were a few hours, but felt much longer, he was ready to destroy himself to destroy them. His torturers. His demons. His captors. Everything. He would have destroyed them all, including himself, by that time, if it weren't for the drugs that fogged his mind, only letting the pain through.

            His drug-fogged mind barely registered movement near his right, hardly noticed the first stab of pain in his arm…but fully got the message of lancing pain through his inner right thigh. He felt something thickly liquid, and warm flowing down his leg from his thigh, felt the pain, but could do nothing about it, except grit his teeth and refuse to let any tears that tried to form fall. Intense, that was the only way to describe the pain.

Dull…

Alone…

Afraid…

Hurt…

Dismal…

            A scream nearly tore itself from his parched throat as a burning, hot pain flashed over him. The pain couldn't be located to one spot by his tired mind; it just felt like it was everywhere and nowhere at once. So agonizing was the pain, his mind was slowly slipping into the blessed darkness that was unconsciousness. _'Help me…Duo…'_ were the last thoughts his mind could form before he was swiftly swept off into darkness…salvation…even if for a short amount of time.

            ***

            As the jeep-like vehicle filled with four ex-pilots, many guns and other weapons sped toward where they all assumed, hoped, Heero Yuy was being held, Duo felt himself slipping further and further from the others seated with him. _'It's all my fault. I should've never gone to him, he would still be safe…'_

            A concerned voice and a gentle hand on his shoulder brought Duo from his thoughts. "It's not your fault, Duo. You couldn't have done anything differently."

            Looking up from his hands that were clenched in his lap, Duo met the kind, aqua eyes of Quatre. _'Always so kind…too kind…too understanding.'_ He thought bleakly, as he let a mask of a smile fall into place over his openly tenebrous expression.

            Wufei glanced at Maxwell. "We _will_ rescue him, Maxwell. Not to do so would be a great injustice to the world. [1]" he said while looking into falsely optimistic violet eyes, before turning away to tend to some of the weaponry.

            Slightly encouraged (not by much), Duo's eyes brightened for a moment. _'We…have to save him…'_ his eyes dulled with dark emotions, _'If we don't, I doubt I'll be able to continue living.'_

            ***

            _Darkness…weightlessness…painlessness…_

_            Nothing else was real…I was free…I didn't want to go back. They couldn't find me here. I was safe here. But…I had to go back. Duo…. Because of him, I had to let the light drag me back to my broken, bloodied, pathetic body. Pain would be all I could feel in a moment. But that didn't matter; I had to go back…it wasn't my time for this wonderful numbness yet. I still had things to do, to live for. Someone to live for._

_            With that, I was suddenly back in the blinding light of life, of consciousness, of pain._

            "We've got him back." Was all Heero heard in his brief moment of lucidity, before he willed himself back into unconsciousness….

            ***

            [1]: What Wufei said seemed to fit the moment, I usually don't like to have him say "injustice" because it's widely over-used…but it fit, so I used it.

            AN: Quite the angsty bit of writing, ne? I just know that people are gonna hate me for all of the bishi-torture in this chapter, but it had to be done…plot devices and all.

            I'm very surprised at the amount of reviews "SL" is getting, pleasantly surprised…keep 'em coming, they make me happy, and a happy authoress is an authoress that is gonna write more, faster.

            I've noticed something, my chapters are getting a tad longer every time…like a paragraph or so longer…be glad ^^

            **_THANK YOU_** to LadyDragonWolfKnight, Lord Havoc's Minion, Cherrii, Bunch-o-Nuts, PATTY 40, lycanthroperunner, gohans-girl1, Duo Lover 2x1, Angel Of Reincarnation, Blue Eyed Angel2, and lilly kay for reviewing, some of you threatening my life (I always know that my chapters are good when that happens), and brightening my day.

            Until next time…

            Ja`ne


	14. Beginning of the Pain

            Scarlet Love

            Chapter Fourteen:

            Beginning of the Pain

            By: NightChild

            ***

In the distance loomed a dingy warehouse building, seemingly innocent from the outside, but the four ex-pilots knew better, because they suspected that it sheltered the main branch of Neo Romefeller Foundation. That alone warranted caution, the fact that they held an ex-pilot and were probably torturing said pilot only demanded more caution and stealth. Which was why Trowa, Quatre, Duo, and Wufei were sticking to the shadows, being silent as possible, creeping across the wooded area around the ominous building they thought held Heero.

            _'Please be alright…'_ Duo thought, as they steadily made their way closer, ever so closer, to danger…to their mission…to his love.

            Wufei watched Maxwell out of the corner of his eye, while he held his chosen handgun ahead of him, ready for use at a moment's notice. Maxwell looked more ready to fall off the edge than he had before. _'If we don't get Heero back, we'll lose Maxwell as well…and that will shatter Winner; shattering Barton; and in turn, possibly shattering myself.' _He thought as they finally got to the wall of the dingy hell that disguised itself as an old warehouse.

            _'This is it.'_ Were the collective thoughts of the small rescue party as they started to climb to a window in the wall they had just reached. If they failed, they all would probably die…slowly.

            Once inside the now-obvious secret base, the four ex-pilots quickly darted to the shadows of the sterile-white hall, their feet hardly making a sound on the hard, white tile that covered the floor. The place had the feel of a hospital about it, but it didn't quite fit; it was more menacing. A near-choking smell of disinfectants hung in the air, evidently hiding much more foul odors. It was plainly evident that they were in the medical-testing section of the base; probably the totally wrong section, the opposite section of where they needed to be. They needed to move.

            With an unseen, unheard signal, they bolted near-silently down the halls, toward--what they hoped--was the integration-and-torture section of the base.

            ***

            Heero came back to reality with a stinging pain across his cheek; he'd been slapped, apparently. Resisting a groan, he pried his deep blue eyes open to glare at the offender. What he saw when he finally got his eyes open wasn't what he was expecting, but any surprise he felt at seeing a man dressed in what the NRF seemingly considered dress uniform was not shown. Heero glared defiantly at the man as he took in the new uniform. The same black and white color scheme…but more formal, with alternating black and white tassels hanging off the tops of the shoulders in a line to the neck; knee-high, polished black leather-looking boots; tight, black pants with a white stripe down the outside of both legs; a white button-up shirt with black buttons, a black stripe running vertically along the ribs and the underside of the arms. _'It looks like some sort of demented band uniform.'_ He thought with distain, but showing nothing on the outside.

            The man in what Heero viewed as a demented band uniform examined Heero with a sinister look in his steel-gray eyes. The man turned toward the most shadowy corner of the room. "Is he still not providing any information?" he asked someone whom Heero couldn't see.

            "Yes, sir." Came a male's voice from somewhere in the shadows of the room.

            The man nodded, his graying hair bobbing slightly. "I see…" he turned back to Heero. "You're quite stubborn. And quickly becoming a nuance." Walking over to the shadows, the man whispered something that could not be heard by Heero.

            A cruel cackle of glee came from the shadows. 

_'Kuso.'_  Heero knew what was coming next; they'd drug him again and then torture him to the point of screaming and tears, trying to humiliate him into giving them some information that he couldn't possibly know, because their delusional paranoia was just that, a paranoia. The Gundams had been destroyed at the end of the last war; there was no way for them to do any sort of harm or good to anyone or anything. Heero had told his "interrogators" this, but they had only called him a liar and tortured him more. And that was what was coming…torture.

            A figure in the non-dress NRF uniform stalked out of the shadows, a twisted grin on his scarred face. "Where are the Gundams?" he demanded rather than asked.

            Heero glared at the man, this was one of his more brutal torturers, who got some sort of sick pleasure from seeing other people writhe in pain. "They're destroyed." He said in a monotone.

            The torturer's hand rose, a sharp object of some form in it, and slapped down across Heero's right cheek, the sharp object leaving behind a sharp sting and a trail of blood. "Where are the Gundams? And what are you planning to do with them?!" it was fairly obvious that the man was getting frustrated with Heero.

            _'Let him get frustrated, it won't do him any good.' _Heero thought with a defiant determination. "Destroyed. There can be no plans because there are no Gundams."

            Another slash of the sharp, metallic object to his face. "You're lying!" Another slash. "Where. are. the. Gundams?!"

            No answer.

            Another slash. "Answer me!"

            No answer.

            Slash, slash. "WHERE ARE THE GUNDAMS?!"

            The constant, repeating questions and no answers continued until Heero slipped back into unconsciousness again, safe from the mindless torture he had to endure for…he couldn't remember if it had been days or hours or months…it was just too hard to keep track when they had him in a dark cell, strapped to a hard table-like thing and in constant pain. Yes, the darkness was much better than that living hell.

            ***

            AN: Look, longer chapter. Many of you are telling me to make my chapters longer, but to have longer chapters; there would be more space between the updates, probably at least two weeks between updates. I do the shorter chapters because it's easier for me to write and edit them quickly and get them out to you. I suppose I'll hold another poll. Let me know if you want longer chapters with more space between updates or if you want me to keep doing as I have been and you get your updates about once a week. Let me know before the 31st of October, 2003.

            Now that the long AN is over:

            **_THANK YOU _**to Lord Havok's Minion, gohans-girl1, Duo Lover 2x1, PATTY40, Angel Of Reincarnation, Holly, Bunch-o-Nuts, Aryante, Hyper Pegesus, LadyDragonWolfKnight, Duo-js, and Shin-chan for reviewing and brightening my day.

            Until next time…

            Ja`ne


	15. Light inside the Darkness

            Scarlet Love

            Chapter Fifteen:

            Light inside the Darkness

            By: NightChild

            ***

            Steel-gray eyes glinted with the glare of the security monitor as their owner watched four ex-Gundam pilots dart through the hallways of the base. His base. The man ran a hand through his graying, brownish hair as he grinned. _'Only a matter of time.' _He thought sinisterly.

            A knock from the shadows, at what had to be a door, made the man look up. "What?" he barked out.

            "Commander [1] Phearsun, sir, the captive pilot's condition is unstable. The medical team sent to his cell sa--"

            The soldier behind the door didn't get to finish before his commander stood before him, the door that was hidden in the shadows of his office flung open. He glared at the said soldier, the black-and-white of his dress uniform making him appear to be some sort of angry, slightly aging, mythical creature. This was the man in charge; the man that had been in the ex-pilot's cell just a few hours before. Without a word, Phearsun [2] was gone down the twisting hallways that led to the captive ex-pilot's cell.

            When he reached the rusted cell door, Phearson didn't even bother to announce himself before bursting in. As he looked at the aforementioned ex-pilot, he almost felt his stomach lurch at the blood, pale, torn, burnt skin. Almost.

            The young man, Heero Yuy, laid still on the slab-like gurney, his arms, legs and torso strapped down with thick, leather-like restraints. His eyes were closed in unconsciousness. The skin of his face was paler than it should be, his lips carrying a slight bluish tint. Blood was still slightly dripping down onto the floor from various cuts on his body and face, leaving a fairly large puddle of semi-chunky, congealed, reddish brown. There were red, blistering burns on his legs, chest, neck and arms; his shirt having been torn or cut off long ago for easier access to his flesh for…negotiation…purposes. The slow, ragged rise and fall of his chest showing signs of--perhaps--near-death.

            The rank, rotten smell of burnt flesh and the metallic tang of blood that hung in the air were enough to send a person unused to such smells reeling and vomiting, but Phearsun was used to such smells and sights, that didn't however, keep his stomach from protesting at the sight and stench.

            Phearsun took a deep breath to calm his near-rolling stomach and motioned for the medical team that were working on Heero to leave--which they did, rather quickly--before barking out, "Who did this?!"

            Silence was his answer.

            Raising his voice in volume, "_Who did this_?!"

            Silence…then a slight shuffle and rasping sound like someone trying not to breathe at all. Almost growling to himself, Phearsun followed the sound to its source. Upon finding where, more like whom, the noise had come from, he dragged the man out of the shadows. It was the same man that had been left with the prisoner hours before. "So it was you, was it?" he accused, continuing, he didn't even wait for the man to reply, "How did this happen?"

            The man that was being held in Phearsun's tight, iron-like grip gathered up his courage and stared his commander in the eyes. "He wasn't talking, sir."

            "'Wasn't talking' or wasn't giving the answers you expected?" Phearsun asked coldly, his steel-gray eyes hardening even more than they had been. He didn't wait for an answer; instead, he called for a guard to take the man away and have him "held to be dealt with". Then he turned to Heero, who by this time had nearly stopped breathing. With a sigh, he just left the room. _'He was just bait for the other, anyway.'_ He thought with a shrug as he walked down the hallways to his office.

            ***

            I was floating…weightless…almost like I was in space, but there were no stars. No light of any kind. Just blackness. Darkness. Blessed, sweet, wonderful, painless, dark, blackness. So peaceful. I didn't want to leave it. But--something, I was supposed to do something, or talk to someone. I don't really remember, though. I-I think it was important.

_            I shake the head I can't exactly feel or see, but just _know_ is there. Nothing matters but the painlessness of this place…. Maybe I'm dead. That would be the only logical conclusion, but, there's something that doesn't really make me feel like I'm dead, I don't really know what it is…. But there's something._

_            I would have sighed if I could, apparently, I'm just a mass of formless consciousness in this place; even though I feel like I have a body, I can't see it. I'm thinking way too much. That's the problem with this darkness; it lets you think too much._

_            I was about to try not to think anymore when I heard it. A soft whisper of my name, hardly loud enough to even be heard. I turn my non-existent body toward the sound, straining my ears, trying to catch where it could be coming from._

_            "Heero…" I hear it again, and catch a glimmer of light, more like a flash._

_            I try to move toward it, but it fades away._

_            "HEERO!"_

            Heero snapped his eyes open and instantly regretted it, because his eyes met the bright light that was affixed to the ceiling and it caused his whole body to remember that he was greatly injured, therefore, should be in a lot of pain. His body promptly made up for that lack of remembrance and proceeded to thrum in pain, making Heero clench his teeth to keep from crying out.

            "Heero!" he heard a very, very familiar voice, one he didn't think he'd ever hear again.

            "D-D…uo…?" he rasped out through his clenched teeth, and then promptly passed out.

            ***

            Duo, Wufei, Quatre and Trowa were all running as fast as they could to where they thought the interrogation-and-torture section of the base was. The strong stench of blood and a scent that could only be death was getting stronger and stronger with each hurried step they took. They were getting closer to the right section.

            They turned a corner and had to stop dead in their tracks because of the rank, hideous odor of the corridor that they now faced. This had to be the place they were keeping Heero. Lines of rusty-yet-strong-looking doors ran the length of both sides of the long, wide hall. The floors were made of a rough, gray stone, an extreme contrast to the pristine white floors of the other sections of the base they had ran through. The walls were made of the same stone, another extreme contrast to the white of the other walls. Dark stains littered the floor and walls in various places; those stains looked sickeningly like dried blood that hadn't been cleaned up well.

            Duo stared hopelessly at all of the cell doors. "How do we find him in all of this?" he asked in a voice that sounded broken, devoid of emotion, while gesturing to their surroundings.

            Quatre looked around, then randomly walked up to a door. "Let's try this one." He said, as if he knew that Heero would be behind it.

            Trowa nearly grinned. _'Quatre's doing his physic thing again.'_ He thought as he walked up to the door that Quatre was standing by. Duo and Wufei just watched, one with a sense of forlornness and the other with a sense of impatient interest.

            Deftly, Trowa worked on the lock on the cell door. Soon the lock was picked and he pushed the door open. Stepping inside, he glanced around then gasped at what he saw sprawled out on the medical-like table. Just as he was about to turn and tell the others not to come in, he heard Duo and Quatre gasp, and Wufei cuss under his breath in Chinese. None of them were wondering how Quatre had known exactly where Heero was; they were too shocked.

            "Heero…" Duo gasped as he saw his love spread out on the table. Blood mostly congealed on the floor, cuts that were trying to scab over all over the parts of his body that his ripped pants didn't cover, blistering burns, bruises, needle marks….

He took a faltering step forward, then ran to Heero's side, "HEERO!" he screamed as he reached Heero's side, noticing that he was hardly breathing and his skin was so pale that it held a slight grayish tint.

            Heero's eyes snapped open, then he tensed in pain.

            Smoothing over Heero's hair, Duo cried out in joy, "Heero!" when he saw his eyes open.

 "D-D…ou…?" he rasped out, and then passed out, shattering Duo's joy, replacing the joy with dread and worry.

            ***

            [1]: I know nothing of military ranks or anything like that…so I doubt I'm using the right rank or whatever for him, oh well.

            [2]: My sister helped me come up with that name. I like it a lot when it's said, it's said, "Fear-sun"… Don't ask why we came up with it or how, but I like it.

            AN: This chapter is for Holly, she helped me a lot with that first-person bit that I have in there and she's a great and dear friend to me.

            Wow…this chapter is about two and a half pages just chapter content. It's the longest chapter of "SL" so far, I think.

            In result of the poll I took for ten days, I'm going to be keeping up with the shorter chapters with the (hopefully) short spaces between updates. So, you can expect me to keep doing things as I have been.

            **_THANK YOU_** to Jade Crescent; PATTY 40; Bunch-o-Nuts; Duo-js; fukushuu, Fragile Reflection; Alana Quinn (Gohans-girl); Yin's dragon, Yang's soul; Angel Of Reincarnation; Reaper02Angel; and Lord Havok's Minion for reviewing and brightening my day. I write partly for myself, and partly for all of you.

            Until next time…

            Ja`ne


	16. Bleak Rescue

            Scarlet Love

            Chapter Sixteen:

            Bleak Rescue

            By: NightChild

            ***

            As soon as Heero passed out, Duo instantly started yanking the restraints from his body. _'He's going to die…'_ were the forlorn thoughts that ran through his head as he struggled with the buckles on the leather-like straps. _'I…can't live without him.'_

            Strong hands wrapped around Duo's wrists and he looked up to see Trowa staring at him with his emerald eyes, one half-hidden by his hair. He shook his head. "Let me do it, Duo. Go stand with Quatre." When Duo opened his mouth to protest, Trowa's eyes hardened and his voice grew stern, "Now." There was no room for argument with that.

            With a worried glance at Heero, Duo walked over to where Quatre was standing. He was close to the edge. What was on the other side of the edge was something that he really didn't want to experience, but if Heero died, he would die too. Life was pointless without Heero in it since he found him again.

            "Duo…." Quatre's soft, comforting voice brought Duo out of his thoughts. Duo looked at Quatre with a questioning look in his violet eyes. "We need to stay on guard; it was too easy getting here. This could be a trap. Hold on for a bit longer and we can get Heero and us out of here. Can you do that, Duo?"

            Pulling at every bit of training he had had, Duo nodded to Quatre and took his semi-automatic out of the waistband of his black pants. "Yes." Was his only answer. He ignored everything inside of him that told him he needed to stay by Heero and went to stand by the door; where Wufei had posted himself.

            Wufei glanced at Maxwell before turning his onyx gaze back to the long, dirty hall. "Are you going to make it through this, Maxwell?" he asked in a hard voice, but the voice held sincere concern.

            With a nod Duo said, "I have to; for Heero." He posted himself just inside the doorframe, keeping a watch in the opposite direction that Wufei was. The hall looked calm, beside the fact that there were bloodstains on the walls and floors and signs of obvious torture practically written all over the place. But no one seemed to know they were there. _'Something's not right here…'_ it was too easy, just like Quatre had said.

            As if Duo's thoughts were some sort of cue, the sound of a large body of people running was heard. _'Shit.'_ The near-thundering sound of footsteps was getting closer. _'Shit!'_ "Wufei, Trowa, Quatre! We have company!" he yelled, although he was sure the others had heard it by that time. It was doubtful that anyone couldn't hear it with how loud it was.

            There was a pause in the footfalls.

            Clank.

            "Wufei! Duo! Take cover!" came Quatre's yell as a hand grenade rolled into the hallway. Wufei and Duo barely had time to dart into the cell where they had found Heero; help Trowa and Quatre drag Heero's limp form behind the now-upturned gurney-like table before the blast went off, sending a could of smoke and dust into the doorway of the said cell.

            While they waited for the dust and smoke clear enough for them to see, Duo clutched Heero's unconscious body to him in a possessively protective way; somehow managing to do so with one hand, as the other held his handgun in front of him, ready to be fired at the first sign of threat.

            Quatre peered over the top of their temporary shield, his firearm ready to fire. _'They're coming…I can feel them.'_ Keeping his voice as low as possible and still be heard, he whispered, "Get ready. They're coming."

            Wufei, Duo and Trowa instantly tensed at Quatre's words, shifting their positions slightly to make fighting and seeing a bit easier; Duo still clutching Heero to him, refusing to let him go.

            Only the sound of their own hearts could be heard in their own ears. It had been a trap, but they _had _to save Heero and any risk was worth saving him.

            Clank.

            "GET DOWN!" yelled Quatre again as he ducked behind the upturned-gurney-like table. He could hear the others doing the same before the roaring explosion of another grenade going off drowned all sound out.

            Duo heard Quatre's yell and tucked himself around Heero as a human shield as he tried to move while in that position to a safer, more covered location only a few feet away from him. The grenade went off and he felt something strike his left shoulder, instantly starting to sting in a way that only a deep flesh wound can. He gritted his teeth against the pain as he scrambled the last few inches to a safer place behind the table.

            Hearing Winner's yell of warning, Wufei quickly ducked into a safer location behind the table, closer to the center of it. _'This is bad.' _He thought before the loud explosion went off.

            When he heard Quatre's voice raise to alert them of danger, Trowa moved quickly, using his agility he had gained while working at the circus, he grabbed Quatre and pulled him down behind the table, nearly landing on top of Wufei.

            As the smoke cleared, Wufei glanced at Maxwell--as he was the closest to him--and noticed that there was a large, bleeding gash that ran from his shoulder to his mid-back. Maxwell also was laying half on Yuy and they both seemed to be unconscious, when only minutes before, Yuy had been the only unconscious one among them. He reached over with the hand that wasn't holding his gun and nudged Barton's shoulder, jerking his head toward Yuy and Maxwell when Barton's emerald eyes turned to him.

            When Trowa felt Wufei nudge his shoulder, he glanced at him, and then he followed his head-jerk to Heero and Duo. His eyes almost widened at the sight of them. Duo was laying half on Heero while blood oozed from a large wound in his shoulder-to-mid-back. The blood was quickly pooling around them. "We need to get out of here." He said calmly, a façade he had mastered well. Calmness had been the façade he had hid behind during the wars. And old habits were hard to break.

            Quatre sensed something amiss at the tone Trowa had used and looked behind him to Trowa, Wufei, Duo and Heero. He quickly assessed Duo's condition. "Wufei, use this," he took off his jacket and slid it across the floor to Wufei, "to stop the bleeding. Trowa, do you have the explosives with you?" Quatre had noticed that Duo hadn't taken any explosives with him and hoped that Trowa had.  
            Trowa nodded.

            "Good. Get one of the larger grenades and throw it as hard as you can out the door." Quatre was quickly taking over "command". _'We won't lose anyone. We can't.'_

            Trowa reached into one of the small backpack-like bags he had attached to his back before leaving their vehicle and pulled out a fairly large hand grenade; he had taken the packs when he noticed that Duo only grabbed his gun. "Get down!" he warned, listening as Wufei and Quatre took cover before he threw the grenade has hard as he could through the doorway, then took cover himself. _'Three…two…one.'_ Just as the thought of "one" passed through his mind, there was a loud, near-deafening bang, then a whoosh and a flash of bright light that could be seen through tightly shut eyelids.

            There wasn't a sound being made as the dust and smoke cleared. Wufei stood up, Maxwell flung over one shoulder, Winner's jacket torn in strips and tied around his wound as best could be managed. He watched as Winner helped Barton get Yuy situated on his shoulder before turning his attention to the room around them. Debris were scattered all over the floor, slivers of wood somehow staked in the rough, gray stonewalls and floor. He glanced at their shield and was immensely grateful they had had it. The table had large slivers and splinters of wood and metal sticking out of it from the blasts it had protected them from. "Let's go." He said simply as he stepped around the table, Maxwell still on his shoulder.

            Trowa and Quatre followed Wufei as he slowly walked toward the battered doorframe, their guns readied and Trowa had a grenade tucked into his waistband where he could easily reach it. As sense of trepidation hung heavily in the air, seeming to get thicker and heavier as they got closer to the door, almost as if it were some omen that was trying to warn them of danger. But they had never listened to omens of any sort; they couldn't with the parts they played in the wars.

            ***

            Phearsun sat in his darkened office scowling at the surveillance monitors. The ex-pilots were proving to be a nuisance, as they had just blown a platoon of men to smithereens with one grenade. The time had come for them to meet Neo Romefeller Foundation's organizer and leader. Quickly standing, grabbing two handguns and a few grenades, Phearsun tore out of his office to go meet the ex-pilots and eliminate them.

            ***

            AN: My chapters keep getting longer and longer. Though, my cliffies are probably getting worse and worse. *shrug* You'll have to live with it, though.

            I never expected "SL" to get nearly 200 reviews, I'm sort of shocked, but happy.

            **_THANK YOU_** to Lord Havok's Minion; Bunch-o-Nuts; Freefall; Shellie; Alana Quinn; Fragile Reflection; Shin-chan; and PATTY 40 for reviewing and making me smile.

            Until next time…

            Ja`ne


	17. Desperate Escape

            Scarlet Love

            Chapter Seventeen:

            Desperate Escape

            By: NightChild

            ***

            Running down the corridors was awkward at best for Wufei and Trowa, as they both had a limp, unconscious ex-pilot flung over their shoulders in a hold much like a fireman's-hold. Quatre was making good progress, though, always going up a few meters to make sure the path was clear and then coming back to them.

            The air still held a sense of foreboding as they turned another corner of the labyrinthine base, all sweating by that time from the strain and physical exertion. Just as they emerged into the new hallway, gunshots rang out and echoed off of the pristine, white walls and floors. Using all of their reflexes they had, Trowa, Wufei and Quatre were barely to jump back behind the cover of the other wall, taking the unconscious Heero and Duo with them.

            As Quatre leaned against the wall, he heard Wufei muttering cusses under his breath in Chinese, and Trowa whisper "shit" before he turned his thoughts toward getting out of their latest ambush. Just as he was about to voice a plan a cold, smoothly malevolent voice called out.

            "I know you're there, Gundam pilots. Come out; come out…" the voice had turned taunting. "I know you've got them as well. Aw, don't want to come out and play?"

            ***__

            I think I must be dead. But you can't think when you're dead, can you? So… That means I'm alive, I guess. Ya know I kinda like it here. Though, I'd make some changes, such as light of some sort, this darkness has to get boring at some point.

_            Hmm… Maybe I've gone insane. That doesn't quite make sense, 'cause I remember who I am--I think--and I remember I was trying to rescue… Trying to rescue Heero, yeah, that's right. I was trying to rescue Heero from those stupid Neo Romefeller creeps. I hope he's okay. He looked like shit when we got to him. Still alive, though._

_            Hey, what's that light over there? Maybe I'll go check it out…_

_            "I know you've got them as well… come out… play…?"_

            ***

            Suddenly, Duo's violet eyes snapped open. He knew that voice! "Phearsun…" he muttered out like it was a cuss, although it hurt to speak.

            Hearing Duo speak, Quatre directed his attention onto him. "Duo…?"

            Smiling a thin smile that was meant to hide the pain that was tearing through his shoulder like fire, Duo nodded. "Yeah. What happened? Where's Heero?"

            Motioning for Trowa--whom by that time had set Heero's unconscious form on the floor by the wall--to take his position near the edge of the wall, Quatre walked over to Duo's slumped figure and knelt down in front of him, looking at his wound while explaining, "When they sent the grenade into the room you were hit by something," he said as he gently fingered Duo's wound, making the other ex-pilot wince in pain, "causing a deep wound in your shoulder and you passed out from blood loss. I'm surprised you're conscious already." Quatre finished, his eyes soft pools of aqua concern.

            "I'll be fine." Duo said nonchalantly. "How's Heero?" he asked with worry pretty much written all over his frame.

            "He's still unconscious, but I _think _he'll be okay." Truth to be told, Quatre didn't reall think that Heero was going to be okay. He looked horrible. Burns, cuts, and bruises covered what his torn jeans didn't hide, his breathing kept getting more labored and shallow by the minute. He was probably going into shock, if he wasn't in shock already.

            Trowa watched the exchange out of the corner of his eye from his new vantage point. _'Quatre's so much stronger than he'll ever know or admit, so kind as well.' _He thought tenderly before turning his full attention back toward where their ambusher, Phearsun as Duo had named him, lay in wait.

            Wufei glanced at Winner and Maxwell; he could tell that Winner was extremely concerned for Maxwell. He, Wufei, was as well, but his cold demeanor had to stay in check, at least until the danger was over and all of them were out of this hellhole of a building. If they could get out in time for Yuy was up to debate, but if they lost Yuy, he was sure the rest of them would be lost as well.

            Nodding blankly at Quatre's words, Duo glanced at Heero. _'Please be okay…'_

            ***

            Phearsun had had enough of waiting. "If you don't come out now, I'll just have to come and get you, won't I?" he called out, his voice still holding a taunting edge.

            He didn't have to wait long until he heard a clank and saw a grenade roll toward him. "Shit." He quickly ducked into a small alcove just as the grenade went off with a thunderous bang and the walls shook. Yes, this was going to be a challenge and he loved challenges.

            ***

AN: I know you're all probably ready to kill me by now for not getting this out and leaving more cliffies than's really fair. But this chapter was a pain to write and things at home have been a bit…rocky…lately, so I haven't had time to write like I usually should. I'll be trying to get back into my near-weekly update thing again soon.

            Huge thanks to Emilie Grant (Ryll-chan) for beta-ing this chapter for me, and glomps!

            **_THANK YOU_** to Lord Havok's Minion; Alana Quinn; PATTY 40; Freefall; blank; blank; Kira R. Chan; Bunch-o-Nuts; Angel of Reincarnation; Galyn; and Reaper02Angel for reviewing, telling me how evil I am and brightening my day.

            Until next time…

            Ja`ne


	18. The Blood That Flows

            Scarlet Love

            Chapter Eighteen:

            The Blood That Flows

            By: NightChild

            ***

            As the dust in the air cleared, it was deathly silent; so silent that it seemed the blast had killed everyone present in the L-shaped hallway. That was until Phearsun's voice rang out through the still-dusty air. "Clever, very clever, but not clever enough, I'm afraid." His tone was condescending, cruel, but it changed with his next words, turning to icy, deadly. "Send pilot zero-two out, or you'll be getting that grenade back, three-fold."

            Duo's head snapped up at the words spoken, he had been looking at Heero still, hoping desperately he would be okay. _'Three-fold…?'_ That would probably kill them all, they wouldn't be able to move fast enough to duck into any alcoves and drag Heero at the same time. Despondently, he slowly started to stand from his sitting position by the wall, violet eyes dull. It was Heero's only hope; he had to surrender to Phearsun. He took a faltering step, sealing his fate, that he would die slowly, tortured… But he was doing it for Heero, Quatre, Wufei, Trowa…so, in some twisted way, it was okay. Another step, then another, another, and suddenly a hand shot out and grabbed his forearm.

            "Duo! What are you doing?" came Quatre's voice, the hand on Duo's arm tightening. So, it was Quatre holding onto his arm, then.

            "I have to, Quatre…" he took a deep breath to keep his voice from trembling, but failed to keep the tremble from it. "T-Tell Heero that I love him." With those words, he felt tears stinging his eyes, knowing that he'd never know Heero's response to that, if he felt the same way for him or not. He shook Quatre's hand off of his arm, setting his mind with a cold determination of a man condemned, and took another step, walking with hesitant, faltering steps, but pushing himself to walk down the hall.

            "No! Don't do it, Duo!" he heard Quatre's voice call out, the pain, loss in it almost making him turn around, but he didn't. This was something that he had to do. He knew that if he didn't, the others would die along with him, and he couldn't stand that.

            Not turning even his head, he called back, voice dull, numb, "I have to." With that, he took the rest of the steps that led him to the other section of the L-shaped corridor. Dull eyes looked to Phearsun, the smile on his thin features was perverse in the way it was twisted with sadistic glee. 

            "Ah, so the 'hero' sacrifices himself for the common good." Came the mocking voice from the man that stood be fore Duo, the face twisting more with sadistic glee.

            ***__

            I was in that wonderfully dark, oblivious place again. Maybe they had succeeded in killing me this time. It wouldn't surprise me, after all, there's only so much that I can take before it would kill me. Only so much blood I could lose, pain I could endure….

            I'll miss Duo…. Wait. Was that his voice? "T-Tell Heero that I love him." That's surely his voice. He…loves me? I would have blinked out of pure shock, then smiled if I had a body to do so with. He loves me. I love him.

            That was Quatre's voice, I think, but I wasn't really sure. He worries too much. Poor Trowa and Quatre… This whole mess will probably effect their happy life together in some way.

            I know that voice… "Ah, so the 'hero' sacrifices himself for the common good." That's the voice of that sick, sadistic bastard that's in charge of Neo Romefeller Foundation.

            ***

            "No! Duo!" Heero yelled as his Persian-blue eyes snapped open and he bolted up from his sprawled position by the wall. Frantic eyes scanned the corridor, searching for the long, braided, brown haired, violet-eyed owner of the name that had been yelled. Upon fining said person missing, Heero forced his badly bruised, cut, and otherwise battered body to stand, a hand going to the wall for a brief moment to steady him.

            "Yuy, what are you doing?" Wufei asked as he watched Yuy stand up and lean on the wall.

            Heero ignored Wufei, instead glancing at Trowa. "I need a gun." He said simply, glancing to the corner where he knew Duo was just beyond. Saving Duo came first, he, himself, came later.

            Trowa glanced at Heero, taking his eyes off of the corner for a moment, gauging his physical condition. Not too good still, but he should be able to take Phearsun out. With a nod, he tossed a semi-automatic at Heero, knowing the ex-pilot would catch the gun out of reflex, and being right.

            Checking the gun to make sure it had a full clip in it, Heero took a step forward, limping slightly, and then pushing the pain in his leg from his mind. Pain was not important; saving Duo was. With that, he quickly broke out into a run, ignoring Wufei's cuss in Chinese, the calling of his name from Quatre and Trowa, ignoring everything. 'Must save Duo.' Were his only thoughts as he ran, turning the corner and holding the gun in front of him, only to come to a dead stop at the sight that greeted him, his arm falling back to his side.

            Duo's head snapped around when he heard the echo of Heero's voice. 'He's awake…he'll be okay now.' He thought dismally, head still turned toward the other section of the hallway. When a rough, large, strong hand grabbed him and pulled him flush against a tall, lean body, Duo jumped, eyes going wide while he tried to pull away, only to have a knife pressed to his throat, and a gun pressed to his back.

            Phearsun had watched pilot zero-two turn, he knew that pilot zero-one would come for zero-two, and he needed to have some form of protection. Quickly, he whipped out a gun from his pants, and a short knife from the cuff of his sleeve. Silently, moving so fast it was almost inhuman, he grabbed Duo, pulling him close, knife going to the young throat when the pilot started to struggle, gun going to press into his back. "Don't move." He warned as he sneered at Heero, who now stood just beyond the other section of the hallway.

            Staring at the sight of Duo being held like that with a knife to his throat, Heero lost it, and charged with a strange, somewhat strangled yell, the hand with the gun in it coming up, sights lining up for a head-shot on Phearsun. If he had seen the gun, had a different angle, he would have done things differently, but he didn't and what he was doing seemed to be the best course of action.

            "Heero!" Duo and Quatre yelled at the same time.

Quatre had by that time come around the corner, with Wufei and Trowa; armed as best they could, ready to lend help. But the blond had seen the flash of chrome that was the gun, and knew that it was pressed to Duo's back, then did the only thing he could, yell in warning.

Duo knew about the gun as the muzzle was pressed to his back, and had yelled out to warn Heero, knowing that somehow, Phearsun could manage to shoot the charging ex-pilot.

            Turning his head toward Quatre to see why he had yelled, Heero never saw the gun whip out from behind Duo, never had the time to dodge it when the trigger was squeezed…

            BANG!

            Blinking, Heero stumbled to a stop, looking down at his chest. He watched in bemused horror as his dark blood flowed from the wound, nearly gushing, and he stumbled to his knees, gasping. Wide, dulling eyes stared at Duo, whose throat was slightly trickling blood because of his struggles to get free.

            "HEERO!" four voices cried out in unison, a violet-eyed ex-pilot struggling in the grip of an insane military commander; a aqua-eyed ex-pilot having to be held back by his green-eyed love as tears flowed from his eyes, knowing what was going to happen; and an onyx-eyed ex-pilot cursing the unwanted tears that came to his eyes.

Mouth opened, snapped shut, then opened again, but finally the choked, pained words were said. "I…love you, too…Duo." Heero said, the last of it coming out in a gasp as his eyes rolled back in his head, body going limp and falling forward into a puddle of his own blood. His chest rose and fell once more, before it became completely still, he became completely still.

            "NO! HEERO!" Duo yelled, somehow throwing Phearsun's grip away, and he ran, trying to reach Heero's fallen form.

            Phearsun raised the run, aimed and fired at the back of Duo's head.

BANG!

Duo never had a chance to dodge as his back was to Phearsun, and he wasn't able to see. He went down instantly, eyes wide, staring, unseeing. Blood pooled around him, creating a wide, shallow puddle of scarlet.

"HEERO! DUO!" Quatre yelled, trying to push away from Trowa to go to the now obviously dead, fallen ex-pilot's side, with the desperate delusion that they could somehow possibly be alive.

"Quatre!" Trowa called out frantically, trying to keep his hold on the struggling blond. "I-It's too late, Quatre." He said softly, pulling Quatre to him as he began to sob. Tears worked their way to his own emerald eyes, slowly falling down his face as he held his crying love.

            Wufei watched in horror as Yuy, then Maxwell went down, shot, dead. At hearing Winner's desperate, distressed calls, he decided that he had to get Winner and Barton out of the base and the only way to do so was to… Nodding to himself, he steeled his mind, quickly darting over to Barton, ripping the bag with the grenades from his shoulder, grabbing one, pulling the pin, and running straight for Phearsun. This was the right thing to do. This way, at least two of them would make it out alive.

            "Wufei! What are you doing?!" yelled Quatre as he saw Wufei charge toward Phearsun, the grenade that was going to explode soon held tightly in his hand.

            "Get back Winner, Barton!" called back Wufei as he continued to run at Phearsun. This had to be done. He knew that Barton would have figured it out by now and would have got Winner to safety.

            Grinning with a sick sort of satisfaction as he eyed the corpses on the floor, the scarlet blood staining the whiteness of it, Phearsun failed to notice pilot zero-five hurtling toward him until it was too late and he had been tackled to the floor with the pilot on top of him. He stared with wide, terrified eyes as he realized what the pilot planned to do.

            'I'm coming, Nataku.' Thought Wufei, his eyes closed, as the grenade went off with a flash of light and a deafening explosion, and he thought no more.

            ***

            An older, but still young, Quatre stood in front of three gray, tall headstones. "It's been seven years today, Wufei, Heero, Duo. I hope that you somehow found peace after the hell we all went through." He whispered to the silent grave markers, eyes closed, a tear falling down his cheek and another fell. "Trowa and I are still together." His voice was worn, strained with tears. "Today's the last day I'll be coming back. I hope you all understand… I have to move on now, and accept that you're all gone…" his voice broke with a strangled, half-sob, but he continued, forcing the words out. "I'll never forget you all, you'll always be in my thoughts and dreams. Someday, I'm sure we'll meet again. Goodbye." With that said, he quickly turned, and walked away from the graves.

            A shadow detangled itself from a tree near by and followed Quatre. "You did well, chibi tenshi [1]." Came a voice that sounded much like Trowa's, only deeper, slightly older with time. The owner of the voice wasn't sure why he still used Japanese after seven years, but he supposed that it was a strange way to honor Heero's memory.

            Quatre stopped and turned, a watery smile on his face as he flung himself at the man. "Oh Trowa, I miss them so much still." He said as he started to sob into the man's--now known as to be Trowa--shirt.

            "I know." Trowa said softly, as he held the shaking form of Quatre. "But it's like you said, we will meet them again." With that, he gently kissed Quatre's blond hair. "It's going to rain soon, let's go home."

            Nodding, Quatre released Trowa and took his hand in his own smaller, paler one. They both took a step at the same time, walking away from the gravesite and toward a new future. Toward the time all of the gundam pilots would meet up again. Toward happiness.

            ***

            [1]: I believe that should mean "small angel" in Japanese, but if I have that wrong, someone please tell me.

            AN:  Yes, it is finished. *Authoress ducks flying objects of various kinds* I know, I know…probably most of you hate me for that ending, but it had to be done. There was no way total waff, fluff, or sap would have worked for this story, it would have completely killed the rest of the story because of how dark it is. But at least I made it so Trowa and Quatre can be happy, ne?

            Anyway, this chapter is for Angel of Reincarnation, Holl-chan (Berrful Hunter) and Ryll-chan (Emilie Grant), for their help on writing this and support.

            **THANK YOU** to Marilyn, My Bitterness; Kira R. Chan; PATTY 40; Alana Quinn; kris; Freefall; Kurai Kaiba; and Shinigami's Forlorn Angel for reviewing, most of them throughout the whole fic, and giving me threats, encouragements, and praise.

NightChild


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